Dear Editor,
Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo and Region Ten Regional Chairman Renis Morian’s reactions to my view that this government has done nothing to honour and implement the 21st August, 2012 Agreement prove my point that they are playing a form of Machiavellian politics with the well-being of the people of Linden/Region 10.
The Prime Minister, who has responsibility for information, is being economical with the truth in claiming that the Linden television licence awaits Sharma Solomon’s action, and based on representations made to him from people in the community he has advised that the Board be expanded. Let me from the outset say, the composition of the Board is not within the Prime Minister’s scope of legal responsibility or authority.
The Trust, which is a legally constituted body (established in 2013) and the composition of its board, met the requirements of the laws. If it had not it could not have been established. The PPP/C government’s refusal to grant the licence had nothing to do with the Board’s composition which the Prime Minister is pre-occupied with, and he is misleading the society into thinking the problem exists here. The problem is him.
He is interfering in the work of the Guyana National Broadcasting Authority, which is responsible for granting the licence, by creating roadblocks for it not to be granted. The PPP/C did exactly the same thing. When that government could not fault the people on the laws and their fundamental right, it created all sorts of excuses and roadblocks. The Prime Minister is using the same playbook.
Had the Prime Minister stuck to his constitutional role the licence could have been issued. Blaming Solomon for not expanding the board, and making false argument that the Board was constituted to have the Regional Chairman’s presence, as pretexts for refusing to grant the licence is playing deceptive politics.
My statements that the Amerindian communities have received broadcasting licences and are allowed the right to determine the management of their stations and their programmes’ content, and that the government is moving to establish similar community broadcasting in Bartica, are factual. I reject the Prime Minister’s notion that the statement of these facts constitutes a “cheap shot” and should be withdrawn.
The record will show that following efforts by the people of Linden, the return of their community broadcasting was agreed upon in 2012, long before the Amerindian communities and Bartica. It also shows that when the PPP/C created roadblocks to deny return within 14 days of signing the agreement, the people pooled their resources, created and legally registered a Trust in 2013 to ensure their television was returned.
The PPP/C confiscated the residents’ station in the 1990s. The Prime Minister must now explain to this society his contempt for the rule of law and the transgressing of Lindeners’ rights when it comes to the issuance of their broadcasting licence. This is Machiavellian behaviour driven by the obsession to control a people and deny them their rights as enshrined in the Guyana Constitution.
Regional Chairman Morian’s comment that I am ill-informed in speaking about the honouring and implementing of the 2012 Agreement because the Region has an Economic Committee in place with a Five-Year Plan of Action is a falsity.
The Economic Committee as required by the Agreement was to be presided over by a panel and input was to come from the residents in developing an Economic Plan. This committee was established during the PPP/C administration, a Terms of Reference already composed, and the issue left to be settled was the appointment of a Chairman. The PPP/C was dilly dallying on it. This government has done nothing to appoint a chairman and activate the committee.
In respect of the deceptive claim that the Linden-Lethem road is a result of some economic committee, society is reminded that the plan for this road was conceptualised by the Forbes Burnham government since in the 1970s. Since then its construction has been done in fits and starts. The allocation in the 2017 National Budget represents another shot at continuing its construction. This is the work of central government not the regional government.
The claim that Metallica operating in Region 10 is through the initiative of an economic committee’s five-year plan cannot be true. Metallica has been operating in Region 7 and Region 10 since the period of the PPP/C administration. The information by the Chairman that a new RDC office and rehabilitated airstrip would constitute an economic plan for the people of this depressed community, falls short. Economic development is about bringing people out of poverty and increasing economic opportunities and the standard of living for all.
The Technical Committee which is supposed to be addressing the electricity sector and coming up with measures to provide Linden/Region 10 with a self-sustainable energy system has not met under this government. Under the PPP/C this committee sat but the chairman resigned. What was needed for it to continue working was the appointment of a chairman. To date this has not been done.
The socio-economic situation for the masses in Linden/Region 10 has seen no positive material change with the advent of the APNU+AFC. This community must not only be valued as a vote-getting machine. The people’s constitutional rights must be respected and the 2012 Agreement must be honoured and implemented. The Machiavellian tactics being displayed must cease, and the change must happen now, for it cannot wait on the possibility of an APNU+AFC second term.
Yours faithfully,
Lincoln Lewis